The need for providing emergency medical treatment at the site of accidents involving fractures and sprains has led to the development of a number of portable casts or splints for such treatment. Such casts or splints, however, have suffered from a number of disadvantages. When such a cast or splint is made from conventional plaster cast material such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,024, they may be too messy to handle due to the loose plaster which may fall out of the cast material. In addition, water may not be readily available to mix with and harden the plaster in the cast material. When water is added to such cast and the cast is wrapped around the injured area, the cast may not allow for subsequent swelling and may produce circulatory problems.
Other splints, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,258 or in Canadian Pat. No. 638,812, are relatively complicated in their structure and method of application. A complicated splint is particularly disadvantageous because it may not be applied properly during the excitement of rendering emergency medical aid which may be administered by personnel having minimal medical skills.
Other portable casts, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,052, use a roll of orthopaedic tape impregnated with a liquid resin which will harden upon exposure to air. Such tape, however, is uncomfortable to work with because it is sticky to the touch, and is very flimsy and will not produce a firm cast unless wrapped around the injured area repeatedly without any allowance being made for swelling which may cause circulatory problems.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the aforesaid prior art splint systems. A further object of the present invention is to produce a portable splint system that is relatively inexpensive and simple to manufacture and that is relatively simple to use by personnel having litle or no medical training.